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WASHINGTON D.C. – This week, Rep. Jodey Arrington (TX-19) participated in a House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing on China’s predatory trade practices that threaten American jobs and supply chains. He questioned Matthew Goodman, Senior Vice President and economic expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about our greatest adversarial threat and the critical role of U.S. leadership in world trade To watch Rep. Arrington’s remarks, click here.
Questioning Excerpt Below:
Arrington: Mr. Goodman, is China one of the worst human rights violators in the world community?
Goodman: China's human rights are atrocious.
Arrington: Atrocious. Does China steal our intellectual property, as been reported, [and] force some of these transfer agreements, etc? Do they steal our intellectual property?
Goodman: Yes. That's been a central part of their development strategy.
Arrington: Do they spy on Americans?
Goodman: Yes.
Arrington: Do they align with other malign actors, other countries that don't share our values, and would probably be considered adversaries of the United States and our allies around the world?
Goodman: Yes.
Arrington: Do you think China is our greatest adversarial threat?
Goodman: I think there's no question. It's our biggest competitor and challenger and in some cases, an adversary that we could become enmeshed in serious problems with. Yes, it's the generational challenge.
Arrington: Are they a partner?
Goodman: Not right now. But we do depend on them. The reality is we depend on their market, we depend on their inputs. For as I mentioned, everything we're looking at has some China nexus. And we do need to talk to them, in part to avoid any miscalculation [or] misunderstanding. But also to talk about issues that affect everybody: pandemics, environmental challenges, terrorism, proliferation. There are many issues that we need to talk to them about.
Arrington: It seems to be quite a precarious situation to answer the first set of questions. And the way I would have answered them as well. And I suspect most of the panel would have answered and then, when asked about their partnership, the response was, ‘Well, we need them’. I'd say maybe one of the greatest challenges for our country, not just this committee, is to need China less until China changes its behavior if that’s possible.
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Congressman Jodey Arrington is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives serving the Nineteenth Congressional District of Texas. He serves as Chair of the House Budget Committee and is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
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